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It's a bit of a special case by normal american thinking: where's the victim? The girl who just shut off her machine to board the plane isn't losing anything. The wireless provider has already been paid for the full access interval.. no victim, not really a moral crime.

The wireless provider is the victim, whether you agree with the pricing structure or not. (Personally, I think it's crass highway robbery, but that's a supply and demand problem. That's why I have legal internet tethering from my phone.) Their business model depends on a certain number people to decide to pony up.

I would submit that someone tech savvy enough to steal an internet connection is also one of those more likely to want it enough to pay.

It's roughly analogous to pirating music. The pirated copy doesn't cost them "real" money, yet most of us agree that it's wrong.

-jk